Tastemakers

Dinner and a movie. It’s the classic evening out. And on our first episode of season 2 of Countless Journeys we hear from two men whose life’s work has been centred on making those two experiences a little bit more pleasurable. First we hear from renowned Montreal chef Nantha Kumar. Born in Malaysia, Nantha came to Canada in the late 1980s where he worked for several years as a journalist. He shifted gears to cooking in the 1990s, revolutionizing the food scene in Montreal’s Plateau district, and being at the forefront of the pop-up restaurant experience - decades ahead of others. “I realised long ago that having a physical restaurant was not the way to go. It's like being a D.J. you don't need your own bar. You don't need your own studio to do this.” And Salah Bachir arrived in Canada with his mother and siblings in 1965, when he was ten years old, leaving behind political tensions in Lebanon. He went on to build a hugely successful media company, Cineplex Media. He’s also a leading philanthropist and an advocate for LGBTQ rights. Salah shares the roots of his activism, beginning when he was a teenager, through to today, and the wonderful programs he has supported as Honorary Patron and fundraiser for The 519, a Toronto charity committed to the health, happiness and full participation of the LGBTQ2S communities. “There was always a sense of helping where you can help someone have a better life. And I think there were hands extended to my familyto come to and to help out here. And it's kind of almost embedded in me that if you can help you do.”